After a tough road trip in which they lost three of four games, the Los Angeles Lakers returned home to host the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night.

The Lakers desperately needed a win before getting a few days off, and the Trail Blazers matchup gave them a prime opportunity to get one, even though both LeBron James and Austin Reaves were unable to play due to injuries. However, the Lakers were still able to take care of business and won 107-98 at Crypto.com Arena.

Anthony Davis had the first basket of the night, but otherwise the Trail Blazers got off to a good start with a 12-6 lead after two three-pointers. From there, however, Davis responded with three straight shots to bring the score to 12.

From there, however, the Lakers’ offense stalled as everyone except Davis struggled to make shots, leading to the Trail Blazers taking a 28-22 lead at the end of the first period. Davis had 14 of his team’s 22 points.

With so many guys out, the Lakers’ two-way rookie made his season debut and the first basket of his young career with a 3-pointer early in the second quarter. That began a Lakers run as Rui Hachimura got hot from deep and reclaimed the lead.

Hachimura then went into attack mode and scored a few times at ringside to extend his lead. After a 3-point barrage to end the half in which D’Angelo Russell, Max Christie and Gave Vincent all scored from long range, LA went into the locker room with a 59-45 lead.

All the work the Lakers put in to extend that lead was for naught, as Portland began the third quarter with a 9-0 run. It took nearly five minutes for LA to score, and Davis ended the drought with a layup.

From there, the Lakers got back on track, with Dalton Knecht scoring inside and Russell scoring from distance, bringing the lead back to double digits. However, they suffered another mental error at the end of the quarter, allowing the Blazers to go on a run capped by Scoot Henderson hitting a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to cut their deficit to 77-74 with a three-pointer.

LA needed a strong start to the fourth quarter to regain control and that’s exactly what they got as Russell ran the offense perfectly. He hit a pair of deep 3s and then found another from Cam Reddish, putting the ball at 16. Hachimura then hit another triple of his own, putting the game on ice.

What’s next for the Lakers?

After failing to reach the knockout rounds of the Emirates NBA Cup, the Lakers will now get a bit of a break before facing the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night.

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